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Bootylicious striker Gonzalo Gerardo Higuaín has finally recovered from the back injury that has kept him from playing for over five months. The French-born Argentine played as a substitute in both Saturday’s match against Sporting de Gijón and today’s Champions League quarter-final against Tottenham. The 23-year-old is still not in top shape, but I’m sure he’ll be back to his old goal-scoring self in no time.

For the record, Real Madrid destroyed Tottenham 4-0, with two goals by Emmanuel Adebayor and one each from Ángel di Maria and Cristiano Ronaldo.

He’s back! Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, AKA Kaká, started playing for Real Madrid again this week after almost eight months out with a knee injury. (He did play for Brazil in the World Cup, but underwent surgery in August and has been recovering ever since). The adorable 28-year-old has been sorely missed, and he showed that’s he’s ready to be back on the pitch by scoring Madrid’s fourth goal against Villarreal today. Let’s all welcome him back with a big kiss!

Atlético Madrid 1 (Simão) – Leverkusen 1 (Derdiyok). Another disappointing result for the defending champs. Forlán, what happened to you? Atlético are currently sitting at the bottom of Group B.

Villarreal 2 (Rossi, Gonzalo) – Club Brugge 1 (Donk). Villarreal’s Cani had a rough match, first getting elbowed by Ronald Vargas (who was promptly sent off), then being carried off on a stretcher after a vicious tackle from Jonathan Blondel (who only got a yellow card). He will be recovering for the next week or so.

Young Boys 2 (Degen 2) – Getafe 0. Between injuries and Míchel’s experimental lineup, it should perhaps be no surprise that Getafe failed to follow up their win against Odense. Adding to their injury list, Mario Álvarez ruptured his Achilles tendon in the match. This means he’ll be out for the rest of the season, pobrecito.

Borussia 0 – Sevilla 1 (Cigarini). Gregorio Manzano is off to a good start as Sevilla’s new manager. Luca Cigarini scored just before the break, and Borussia Dortmund couldn’t recover after Marcel Schmelzer was sent off in the second half.

I’m giving this much-anticipated match its own post. It was a rough game, with nine yellow cards and one red handed out. Barça (debuting their awful scrub-coloured away kits) dominated from the start, and Messi scored an early goal. Although Atlético were not at their best (except for 19-year-old goalkeeper David De Gea – more on him later), midfielder Raúl García headed a shot past Barcelona keeper Víctor Valdés. The visitors managed to regain the lead before half-time though, as defender Gerard Piqué controlled a beautiful kick past De Gea.

Right after half, Atlético’s Kun Agüero limped off the pitch to have his knee iced. The Argentinian forward suffered a bruised knee during last week’s match against Bilbao, and was obviously not ready to be back on the field (although manager Quique Sánchez Flores had insisted Agüero would only play if he had fully recovered). From that point, Atlético’s performance suffered even more. Striker Diego Forlán, who has already scored three goals this season, was barely a blip on the radar. Barcelona failed to use their advantage for another goal however, as De Gea continued to shine throughout the second half. Young De Gea is the first keeper for Spain’s Under-21 squad, and he is widely considered to be Iker’s heir on the senior national team. The lanky teen may not be hot, but he is ridiculously cute.

Anyway. Throughout the second half, yellow cards kept coming for both sides (even gorgeous but cranky Valdés managed to get one), and finally a straight red card was given to Atlético’s Tomáš Ujfaluši for a nasty tackle to Lionel Messi in stoppage time. Messi’s ankle swelled up immediately, and was obviously in a lot of pain, having to be carried off in a stretcher. It turns out the injury is not as bad as it could have been. Messi’s ankle is not broken, but it is sprained, and he is expected to be out for 10-15 days, missing at least the next two games.

The World Cup champions were reunited as the Spanish national team started training today. They play Liechtenstein on September 3 in Euro 2012 qualifiers, and a friendly against Argentina on September 7. Carles Puyol will not play due to injury.

Real Madrid has confirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo suffered an ankle injury yesterday not scoring goals against Mallorca. He is expected to be out for three weeks, missing both Real Madrid’s and Portugal’s next two games. (The Guardian)